How many chickens in this coop ( chicken math on steroids)

[matheny00]

It sounds like you have coop space for 8 chickens, if you want more chickens get another coop

We have 5 of smaller breeds in the 10 so I should be ok. Plus it is for sleeping/laying eggs only. They will have outside access 365 days a year here in so cal.

 

[BDutch]

You live in California? Nice weather all year round, not cold in winter?
This means that if your coop is safe , always accessible, and if your coop is (partly) covered with roof this space adds up to the coop space. Its not the sqft in the coop that’s most important but the roost space.
However 4 sqft day and night is not enough to make chickens happy. 16sqft for normal size chickens is way better.
Bantams need less space.

 

[matheny00]

You live in California? Nice weather all year round, not cold in winter?
This means that if your coop is safe , always accessible, and if your coop is (partly) covered with roof this space adds up to the coop space. Its not the sqft in the coop that’s most important but the roost space.
However 4 sqft day and night is not enough to make chickens happy. 16sqft for normal size chickens is way better.
Bantams need less space.

Never heard of anything other than 10sq ft per chicken. But I guess they will have to make this work

 

[BDutch]

Never heard of anything other than 10sq ft per chicken. But I guess they will have to make this work

In my country there are space requirements for organic chickens (eggs). They get organic feed + 4m2 / 16 sqft outside space to obtain the label. The 4m2 for laying hens is a recommendation all the online platforms use to keep happy chickens with low maintenance.

My 8 bantams have 16m2 (8sqft each) outside and the inside spaces where they roost is about 2 m2 (4 sqft each) inside. A small roofed run is for early mornings before the auto pop door opens and for real bad weather days. Also convenient to keep the feed dry. Nothing grows in the net covered run except for 4 bushes. The chickens are always happy if they can free range in the greens.

 

[Suzi q]

You live in California? Nice weather all year round, not cold in winter?
This means that if your coop is safe , always accessible, and if your coop is (partly) covered with roof this space adds up to the coop space. Its not the sqft in the coop that’s most important but the roost space.
However 4 sqft day and night is not enough to make chickens happy. 16sqft for normal size chickens is way better.
Bantams need less space.

4 sqft is only night space and does not cover outside run or free ranging. They need indoor space for inclimate weather. Runs are not included in coop space.

 

[BDutch]

4 sqft is only night space and does not cover outside run or free ranging. They need indoor space for inclimate weather. Runs are not included in coop space.

At night the chickens only need roost space. Besides that they need space to jump and land on the floor. And if there is trouble amongst them they need space to roost somewhere away from their enemies.
The chickens don’t run around at night.

If the climate is right chickens don’t need a coop with 4 walls and a roof for shelter. Only something to keep them safe and preferably a roof above their heads to avoid that they get soaked in bad weather. Some people in my country have chickens who sleep in hedges. They don’t die from the weather, but chances increase they get predated.

I have 4 chickens who sleep in something in a construction in between a coop and a roofed run. It has 1 side (south) open in winter, 2 sides (south and east) open in summer and two sides closed against rain and cold wind.

A few years ago I had 8 bantam chickens in this 1m2 prefab-extension . There was a second smaller coop, but they preferred to sleep together in the 1m2 extension.

When dynamics changed, I had 2 chickens in the smaller coop and 6 in the extension. To avoid tension between my young and older chickens I added a third coop. Now I have 8 chickens equally divided over the 2 coops of 1m2 each. Both have an auto pop door to the larger (netted) run.

 

[Ted Brown]

@BDutch Very well explained.

I do hope those on this thread who are starting their journey heed your words.

 

[BDutch]

@BDutch Very well explained.

I do hope those on this thread who are starting their journey heed your words.

Thank you!
I always try to keep in mind and tell people there is not one solutions in coops/ keeping chickens that fits us all.
It depends on the climate, the individual chickens and the group dynamics what the minimum size of your coop and run should be.

How safe the setup should be made, and if its possible to free range chickens depends on the predator load which can be very different in different regions/ states/ countries. And if you can coop with losses by predation yourself.

Keeping bantams vs larger chickens, or keeping one breed vs many different breeds, makes a big difference too.
In my country people advice new BY chicken keepers to start with one easy going breed, because group dynamics are generally easier with chickens that have more or less the same characteristics.

The first years are /have been a tough learning traject for a lot of us BYC members. And it’s such a pity if people give up bc they had to deal with too much trouble while keeping chickens is wonderful if you have a happy and healthy flock.

 

[Love Donkeys]

That is my feeling. I was going to use the space under the coop for storage but will not be doing that as I do not want to crowd everyone. Yes, I am lucky enough that they could go outside at night or I could just add a room addition if I needed more. I plan for max. Of ten chickens

I told my husband I only wanted 8 or 10 chickens, I have over 40 now. That dang "Chicken Math" gets you every time!

 

[BDutch]

I told my husband I only wanted 8 or 10 chickens, I have over 40 now. That dang "Chicken Math" gets you every time!

Not everyone gets the “Chicken Math virus“.
Started with 4 in 2014,
a year later I had 6,
3 years later 8, 9.
a few years ago back to 5, 6 (death/predation).
Last summer 8. And 6 again in autumn.
And now I have 8 again.

If you count chicks and cockerels too, I had more, but only for a few months.